Monday, March 7, 2011

A few of my favorite things

I love to see what other people like to use on a daily to weekly basis because sometimes it gives me an idea to try something I probably wouldn't have. I also love to find something that I can't live without and then share it with other people!

So I thought I'd go ahead and do that now because well...I'm killin time! :)We craigslisted all of our furniture from the upstairs loft/playroom/kids room/tv room/whatever you want to call it...{it's had many identities and is about to get another one!} I've got a vision for it and I am so excited to see it through! Anyway I'm waiting on someone to come get the last piece of furniture we had up there.

BEST part? We're going to IKEA today to get new stuff for it....even BESTER?! We won't have to spend out of pocket because of the money we received from craigslistin....Oh craigslist, I loveth thee so.

Which brings me to: A few of my favorite things:

Craigslist. Clearly it has it's flaws. You kinda have to weed through all the crummy to get to the good but that's sort of the fun thing, you never know what your going to find. Craiglist has been with me through every decorating identity I've had and allowed me to move on from one to the next. It's a beautiful thing. Funny story...we first discovered it when we were living in Hawaii 5 years ago. We sold some of my old bedroom furniture that we paid thousands of dollars to move over seas from Texas to Hawaii, only to end up selling it over Craigslist in Hawaii. Makes total sense, no?? {It's a long story} So,we sold my vanity and said it was "antique"....I was new to the whole description thing and thought that was a good descriptive word. Well it wasn't an antique. It just sort of had that look of one. It sold quick and now someone in Hawaii thinks they are holding on to some sort of family heirloom. I'm not sure if I feel bad. I don't think I do.Should I??By the way, I was flipping through the channels the other day and saw a movie on Lifetime called "The Craigslist killer"....whaaaaa??? Really, Lifetime, really? Must you make a horror movie about everything? How about we all just make wise decisions and not go seeking out our soul mates on a website period...HELLO!!

Lets move on to this...I love this stuff. I drink one of these in place of coffee or a Diet Dr. Pepper. It has just the right amount of caffiene to give me a little boost in the morning without overdoing it (I think like 60mg) unless of course I make it a double, which I did before starting this post and I think you can tell, yes? Way too many exclamation marks and cap letters.My apologies.Anyway it's a great alternative on the go and it encourages more water intake. I'm not saying it's perfectly healthy (yeah yeah fructose sucralose, yada, yada...) BUT I do believe for me it's better than going to Sonic and getting a route 44 Diet Dr. Pepper(or two depending on the day)

Now allow me to introduce you to a little thing I call "my weakness"...

Upon first glance you're probably thinking "oh yeah cookie dough, we all love cookie dough" But let me tell you WHY I love this cookie dough in particular.You see, it comes already pre-cut. Perfect little chunks of cookie dough. Perfect serving size. Do I like this factor because I count calories? No. Do I like this because I try to have some portion control? Not really my friends. It's because it makes it so much more convenient to mosey on over to the refrigerator and grab a little ball of dough. No need to grab a spoon or cut off the wrapper as you go like you do on the tube. AND the tube always has a layer of harder dough if you don't close it properly. This is wasted cookie dough.This is a shame.

Although I hardly need another reason to love Target more, I have another one. Target's Portrait Studio. I took Mia for her 3 month portraits on Saturday. I was kinda iffy because I used to take Asher there all of the time for his milestone pictures and always loved them. But then for some reason I tried another (unnamed but well known, he hem) place and was never pleased with them. I'm not sure what made the difference as far as picture quality (Targets were GREAT) but the people in general are always MUCH nicer when I've gone to Target. In fact the sweet girl who took Mia's pictures, remembered us from when we used to take Asher (She remembered his mo-hawk when he was 2, hehe) Not to mention the PRICES! You can print a coupon for 3.99 a sheet that you can use for as many sheets AND poses as you want.AND they give you a free 8x10...Holla!!There were so many good ones of Mia I had a hard time choosing but at 3.99 a sheet I could afford to pick a ton!These were taken with my phone off my computer because while I love you Target, I am not going to spend 150$ just to get the CD of all my pictures. Thats a whole lotta dollar spot items. {Don't you love the arrow over Mia's face on this last one! Hahaha!! Oh Laura...}And Target did not sponsor this little promo, HOWEVER, if the CEO of Target happens to stumble upon my little blog, I would like to say I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN!

I stopped taking the kids to official photo places once I got my camera about a year and a half ago. But I always do the official portrait place 3 month pictures. However, I much prefer the more natural look. I'm not a big fan of "posey" photos or pictures where you can tell they were a little forced. I like to catch the kids off guard. I think it's why they don't mind seeing the camera, because I don't make them stop what they are doing to smile etc. As many pictures as I take of them, I can see how that would give them a major aversion to it, so I'm sure not to bug the "subjects." They can be so diva-ish you know ;)Which brings me to one of my FAVORITE things....my camera. My Nikon D40.LOVE it. I've had many people ask me what camera I use and this is it. The more I play with it, the more I learn and love it. I am no professional by any means but I can spot a good photo op when I see it and I am learning the perfect time of day, and learning to use my focus and lense on my own as opposed to just setting it to automatic. Automatic is a beautiful thing though. All you gotta do is point and shoot and bam- good picture.

Another thing I love? My skinny jeans. My Express, 'Zelda' skinny jeans to be exact.{This is not me, if my legs ever get this skinny, you should call an intervention because it would not be natural for me to look this way!}

I always said I would NEVER wear skinny jeans, but I tried them about a year ago and haven't looked back. I even wore some when I was large and in charge all through my pregnancy with Mia. They are my go-to clothes item for sure. I wear them with a t-shirt, dressy blouse, chunky heels, flats, boots....They add a little style to an ordinary outfit. Easy.

Now, I am a stickler for fabric softener and detergent. I LOVE walking down that aisle when I go grocery shopping. I've tried many a fabric softener over the years and have found MY FAVORITE.You might be surprised because it's not the fancy smancy Downy Simple Pleasures and it's not Gain. It's Snuggle. In the blue bottle..."blue sparkle" to be exact. Makes your laundry smell SO good. Maybe you don't like your laundry to have a smell and that's fine, you say tomato.... but I DO! And this one just makes me feel all warm and cozy when I smell it. I will never go back. In fact I did, I got the lavender downy simple pleasures about a month ago because Target had one of the gift card offers when you bought it with Tide. Blah. I was so happy when I used it all up and could go back to my Snuggle.

Now, this here? This is a MUST have in our house.The 'Homedics Sound Spa Lullaby" machine. Someone very sweet gave one to me when I was pregnant with Bella and when I was little like "oh something NOT on my registry...thanks!"

KIDDING!! But really, I studied the box and thought, oh yeah nice idea, well we'll see if it works.Well ya'll let me tell you, IT DOES! We put it on the "ocean" sound since the day Bella came home from the hospital and she still sleeps with it on to this day (she is almost 3) It also has a little pictture projector for the ceiling with 3 different discs you can switch out. Mia LOVES this part of it. I lay her in her crib at night when I know she is tired (but not that too tired she won't fall asleep tired we mothers know and love) and she will smile and talk to them before drifting off to sleep. The "ocean" is on in her room pretty much 24/7. We are so used to the sound around here we forget about it until other people come over and want to know why we have the sound of applause playing throughout our house. Well besides it being an ego boost? Just kidding, no applause sound, it's the ocean. And we love it.

I read this book about a year and a half ago and it was amazing.I love Lisa Bevere in general, and have read a few of her books including 'Out of Control, and Loving it' and 'Fight Like a Girl' which are also great books. But 'Nurture' inspired me in such a way that my way of thinking totally changed! Every woman should read it. It reminded me that we are not here to compete with one another but to inspire, encourage, love and NURTURE! Read it!

This has changed my perspective on decorating....Now, I am well aware that spray paint and it's miraculous working powers are nothing new, but I'm lovin it right now. I've spray painted way too many things over the last couple weeks. I need to stop, I know. But it's just too easy and makes SUCH a difference. It has the ability to make anything look NEW. I have a couple of projects I'm working on for our room transformation that I will be sharing with you as the process goes on so STAY TUNED because I am very excited about the vision I have for this room!

AND, last thing right quick, because I'm getting the "eye" that it is time to G.OAnother FAVORITE item of mine....Babylegs.As you all well know, I'm sure. But this weekend I was reminded why I love them once again. Reason #256 I love babylegs....throw an extra set into your diaper bag with a onesie because you never know when your baby/toddler will have a blow out and you can just throw these on depending on how bad the blow out, OR with a new onesie. Even if you forgot an outfit, throw these on with the diaper to keep their little leggies warm until you can get them dressed again.

Babylegs...it's a good thing. Now go enter the giveaway if you haven't already because today is the LAST DAY!!

And now I shall leave you with one of my favorite quotes-“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”-Ralph Waldo Emerson

2 comments:

enjoyed reading this. i share your love for the sound maker and the babylegs!! I'm excited to try the strawberry crystal light once i start drinking caffeine again. thanks for sharingoh! and my mom has that camera i cant wait to get one.

I loved reading this. Now I want to try out the sound machine and I really want to win those babylegs!!! :) It's much easier for me to win them because my husband thinks since we have 2 boys we don't need any type of somewhat leggings! :) I've tried over and over and he just says they are for girls....so if we win them, then we would have to keep them and use them!!! :)